The Minnesota Vikings are looking for a bounce-back 2026 NFL season after missing the playoffs the previous campaign. Moreover, the team will need certain players to recover from down seasons, one of them being wideout Jordan Addison.
Last season for the Vikings, Addison posted a 64.9 overall PFF grade, which ranked 60th out of 81 qualified wide receivers. His 61.7 receiving grade ranked 69th.
Moreover, he finished with 42 catches on 74 targets for 610 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 14.5 yards per reception. Addison also totaled 135 yards after the catch and was credited with seven drops on the year.
The Vikings did pick up the fifth-year option on Addison’s contract, and it’s a big year for the wide receiver as he looks for a long-term deal. As a result, the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins is calling out the former USC Trojan to step up this 2026 season.
“This is a big contract year for Jordan,” Scoggins said in an April 11 video from “Purple Access.” “This is his chance, not only on the field but off the field, to show that he can be trusted with big contract money.
“Year 3 was the worst of his career. Not all his fault. The quarterback situation was a disaster at times, sure. But it was a career low in catches, a career low in yards, and a career low in touchdowns.
“He had seven drops. He didn’t have that many combined in his first two seasons. I think the focus wasn’t there all the time, probably because of what was happening at quarterback.”
Jordan Addison Needs to Show He Deserves Long-Term Deal
Scoggins added that Addison needs to play with a point to prove this season, so the Vikings don’t have to second-guess paying him big-time money.
“This is a year for Jordan Addison to show he can be trusted as a core foundational player and someone deserving of a big contract,“ Scoggins noted. “So I think if that does not motivate him coming off a down year, the worst of his career, with a chance to show he deserves big money, nothing will.”
Vikings Land Major Take on Free Agent Stefon Diggs
Although the Vikings have two reliable receivers in Addison and Justin Jefferson, there’s not much depth behind them. If either were to go down with an injury or suspension, Minnesota would be in major trouble.
With Jalen Nailor leaving in free agency to join the Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota needs a reliable WR3.
For CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell, he predicts Minnesota will go for a familiar face in Stefon Diggs, who played last season with the New England Patriots, to fill the wideout role behind Jefferson and Addison, should the veteran wide receiver resolve his legal trouble.
“Diggs’ legal trouble is likely why he remains available, “ Podell wrote in his CBS Sports article published on April 3. “He pleaded not guilty to felony strangulation and other criminal charges following an alleged assault of his personal chef. Diggs’ attorney, Mitchell Schuster, claims his client is ‘completely innocent.‘
“If Diggs’ legal process is resolved, a homecoming to the Minnesota Vikings makes plenty of sense. Jalen Nailor departed for the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency, so there’s an opening at Minnesota’s WR3 spot after 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Justin Jefferson and former first-round pick Jordan Addison.”
Vikings’ Jordan Addison Receives Blunt Message for 2026 Season